Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Dream House’

Written by Scott Edwards

​Being able to cope with events that have happened in our lives is what makes us human. As everyone has a different way of handling dramatic events, there is always someone there to make sure their actions stay harmless. Even the doctors that deal in psychological practice know that they can only point their patients in the correct direction, as it is our own minds that have to overcome whatever is keeping them from moving forward.

Will Atenton and his family have just moved into their new home. Will has given up his job and previous life to spend all of his time with the them as work has kept him away for so long. Wanting to make this the best time in their lives, Will is not willing to give up this time, for anyone or anything. But when his new neighbor comes by the house and brings him a food dish, Will’s reality is about to change.

Without his family coming downstairs to meet the neighbor, Will starts to imagine a life without his loving family, and suddenly the house looks completely different from what he remembers. Chasing a group of cult followers out of his house, he starts to understand that there is something strange happening. When witnessing someone watching the house, Will finds out who the man is, Peter Ward. When looking up the mad man that is stalking his family, Will winds up at a psychiatric hospital, but finds out that he and Peter Ward are the same person.

Will/Peter has been living in a fantasy ever since his family was brutally murdered in the house. With the help from his doctors and his concerned neighbor, Will/Peter needs to figure out what is really happening with his mind as he is trying to figure out who the killer of his family really was. Searching for clues around the house and with the ghosts of his family helping, Will/Peter is able to come up with an idea of what happened, but is the person that he is no looking for real, or just another figment of his imagination?

This is one of those movies that will keep you guessing which world is real and which one is in the characters head. I do not have a problem with movies that do this, but one thing that this one does is make the scenes different between the two and that is just great, so the viewer can figure out where they are. I respect the movies that focus on the psyche of a person and tells the story from their point of view, it seems to make you feel a little bit more invested in the character. I enjoyed watching as Will figured out that he was really Peter and had to try to tell his dead family that they were not really in the home with him. Stay Scared.

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